Lake Forest Mountain Lions: Suburban Freakout or a Sign of Things to Come?

By JoshMogerman in News on Oct 22, 2011 8:30PM

Every couple of years suburban police department phones light up with panicked reports of giant cats slinking through backyards and unlit boulevards at night. The shadowy threat of man-eating big cats is the stuff of legend in many Chicago suburbs. But the still-stupefying sight of a 150-pound mountain lion being shot in a Roscoe Village alley in 2008 has probably changed the response to those sightings---after all, there were multiple reports of a cougar in Wilmette in the days before the ill-fated feline crossed into the City limits.

With events in Ohio this week, where dozens of exotic animals were shot by police, you can bet the authorities will be even more attentive to recent reports of a mountain lion in the northern suburbs. The Sun-Times reports that numerous calls have come in to Lake Forest police about a cougar near the Bears’ practice facility (too bad the team is in London or this could have been really fun). A nearby homeowner association has sent residents a letter suggesting big cat vigilance.

Given how hard we have worked to pave over most every scrap of grass and tree in many of our cities, it is always a bit of a shock when nature intrudes. Whether it is suburban deer, the City’s shockingly active coyote community, or weird out of place critters that capture our attention, nature’s shadowy presence really spooks some folks. They better get used to it. Bill Zeigler, Sr. Vice President of Collections and Animal Care at Chicago Zoological Society (the folks who run Brookfield Zoo) wouldn't be surprised if there was an uptick coming in the number of pumas visiting the suburbs, we just won't see many of them. (Worth noting that he tells us "mountain lion," "puma" and "cougar" all refer to the same species.)

“There is a growing population of puma in West Central Wisconsin. As that population continues to grow, young males will get kicked to the outer fringes by older males,” Zeigler tells the Chicagoist. He also notes that the cats travel incredible distances (the 2008 cougar was found to have walked to Chicago from South Dakota and one killed in Connecticut earlier this year had wandered 1800 miles), making the hoof from Wisconsin more akin to a weekend jaunt than a long trek. Since the cats are “secretive, their goal is not to be seen,” Zeigler noted in explaining that we may see “more frequent visits.” But no worries, the wandering big cats are unlikely to set up territories in our neck of the woods. With no females around, Zeigler says that the young males will circle back north in search of mates. Too bad, the mountain lions could help the suburbanites they are scaring by putting a dent on the region’s exploding deer population…

Missed the CPD cougar crackdown in 2008? We gotcha covered with some pretty dramatic footage: